Potential
by x A Ninny Mouse x
Summary: In her search for individuals who developed superpowers, Zadavia finds Sive, a street rat with trust issues and a mysterious past. What happened to make her that way? And will she join the Loonatics? Or will her past repeat itself? Note: Title still subject to change. Rewrite of And Then There Were Seven.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: …*is hiding under table***

**So. Um. It's been four months. That's a long time. Let me start by saying that I am not dead. Close, though. It's been a really crappy time at my house, and for reasons ranging from stress to almost constant familial disagreements to an exponential increase in the severity of my insomnia, I have not felt up to writing anything. However, that is only this last month. Before that, my previous outline fell through, none of my other ideas were working, and I could not work with any oneshot prompts to save my life. Now, thanks to the tireless efforts of the kind Bookworm Gal, I have a working outline. I am still working on it, and will either have something in the next few weeks, or second semester, after college applications are done. (Seriously, when you come to it, if you have not already, start those early. They suck.)**

**Anywho, I **_**really really really **_**wanted to keep writing, so instead, I decided to rewrite the monstrosity that is my first draft of And Then There Were Seven. (As I write this, I have not decided if I will name it something else or not, so if I do, that is what this is.) I had to reread that to do this. I cringed. I'm doing it so I never have to do that again, and so no one else will ever have to read that again. I don't think I'll delete the original, but just know that this is the main one now.**

**So, now for something actually relevant to the work. For those who have read the first one, know that I will probably change some things, add some things. You are safe not reading this if you don't want to, you won't miss anything that big; just some bigger details and things that, in retrospect, make no sense, will be changed. Otherwise, it will be the same story. If I finish my outline and start my next one before this one is finished, this one will get shelved for later, because, again, I do still have the other one that people can read. I figure you all reading this will want something new more than this, but this is what I've got. So, I hope you all enjoy and aren't too mad at me for my long-delayed return.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Loonatics Unleashed, and make no profit from this.**

Zadavia had never expected to take on so many jobs while living on Earth; in fact, she had expected to hide somewhere on the planet where her brother couldn't find her and exist quietly, under the radar. However, despite her best efforts, she had still been found, and the meteor sent, and she could not, in good conscience, ignore the harm that her presence brought to an innocent planet. Physical harm, however, had not been the focus of the problem.

She had seen firsthand what kind of damage too much power could do when unregulated, the damage its misuse could do; therefore, she did her best to ensure that those who gained power from the resulting radiation would use it well. Some, naturally, were more inclined to use their new abilities for their own purposes. Others, though, listened to her, and trusted her enough to follow her lead in forming a team to defend the rest of their planet from the ill-effects of spontaneous bursts of power.

Only a small percentage of the local population had been affected; however, she knew that the effects of the meteor, while concentrated near its point of impact, would spread far and wide, though exponentially decrease in concentration with increased distance. Nevertheless, others would be affected, with varying degree of ability, in places much further away; some would immediately notice a difference, while others' abilities would remain latent until necessity sparked their activation. The decreasing effect would ensure that only a handful of the world's population outside of Acmetropolis would be affected, leaving less for her to seek out; the distance, on the other hand, meant that she had a lot of seeking to do. Seeing as she was needed in Acmetropolis, she used numerous other channels to keep watch for anyone of extraordinary ability, like the six Loonatics she had already assembled.

The meteor had hit more than two years ago, and Zadavia had yet to find anyone strong enough to be a potential ally, or threat. That's not to say she found no one who developed any special abilities; she had compiled a list of dozens of people throughout the world who now had some powers. Compared to the Loonatics, though, they were less comparable to potential weapons and more to highly skilled carnival acts. Every so often, she would receive word of someone who was a potential candidate for recruitment- or, at least, a good talk on the ethics of super powers- and every time, she would find that the individuals in question should not have been of much notice. Needless to say, her contacts had a habit of over exaggerating.

However, the email she had just received caught her attention. It was severely lacking in details compared to earlier reports, but the ones that were there warranted investigation. The contents of the email consisted of a first name, an ability, a location, and some base information; hearsay, no less. The information, though, was interesting…especially considering the questionable location…

Zadavia interlocked her fingers, drawing them up to tap at her lips thoughtfully, thinking of the correct way to approach this.

**xoxoxoxox**

The sun awakened her as it finally cleared the top of the neighboring building, streaming in and landing on her face. Growling in annoyance, she rolled over, burying her face into the old, worn couch cushions, but nature's alarm clock could only go ignored for so long. Eventually, she rolled over with a huff, twisting and sitting up so as to land on her feet, tiredly rubbing her eyes before running her fingers through her unevenly bobbed black hair. She couldn't really keep it any other way; she had to cut it herself, and cleaning was always an issue when you had no water. Or electricity. But she had her own means of getting the latter.

Once she felt awake enough, she stood up and crossed the room, grabbing her ratty, red messenger bag off of a side table and digging around inside of it. It contained all of her worldly possessions; half of a comb; a cheap, pink, plastic, compact mirror, which was both dirty and chipped; an old, worn photograph, better maintained than anything else in the sack; a Swiss army knife, which had yet to see any use (save from the previous owner she pickpocketed it from,) but it was still a good idea to carry it; and a small food stash, from which he removed a browning banana. Opening the bag more to peer inside around her meager belongings, she found that she had reached the bottom of her food supply. Rolling her eyes in annoyance, she pulled the bag over her shoulder, adding "Get Food" to her mental list of things to do today as she quickly ate. It was a short list, but there was nothing she hated more than doing errands; errands meant work.

Walking up to the far wall, she covered her eyes from the intruding sunlight, looking down at the ground four stories below. Her area, as one could easily guess, was a very poor one; contractors cutting corners were one of a laundry list of problems, and not very high up on said list, either. Until, of course, the buildings stood for over a decade; then they may have well have been a house of cards. Her "house" had made it onto the ever-growing Condemned list about two years before the meteor, when for no reason in particular, the apartment building's foundation snapped in half like a Kit-Kat bar. The residents were immediately pushed out, and a few days later, half the building came crashing down. The other half, however, showed no signs of deterioration; it was perfectly sound as a stable half-building. However, because of numerous laws, the city still declared it unlivable and condemned a week after the collapse. She had moved in two days later, picking out an apartment lacking a fourth wall purely for the view, and one where the previous residents had left too fast to take all of their furniture.

That had been a few years ago, and she still figured she had at least five years left of time there; that is, based on how quickly the city worked to do anything productive in that district and based on the remaining stability in the first half of the building. She probably wouldn't actually be able to stay in one place for that long…

But, these were thoughts for another day. For now, she had to decide how to get down.

She had three options. There were stairs, which were boring, but worked. There was enough rebar and piping sticking out of the broken wall for her to take a jungle-gym-esque way out, but that required a lot more effort than she was willing to give so early in the morning. This left option three.

Concentrating on herself for a moment, she let the usual sensation spread, feeling as though her limbs were "falling asleep" and spreading. Then, the floor fell out from beneath her, and she stopped it just in time to land neatly on the floor of the third-floor apartment below. Only, the ceiling was still intact; it was she who had done the falling, passing through the solid object as though it was air. Repeating the process twice more, she casually walked out the remnants of the fourth wall of the first floor, climbing over the rubble of the other half of the building before walking down the street into the dirty city.

**A/N: So, I'm not going to even bother trying to predict when chapters are coming out anymore. Whoever said senior year was the easiest lied. It's just going to be out when it's out.**

**So, I've been gone for a long, long time, and I'm worried I've gotten rusty. Reviews would be much appreciated so I can get back on my game.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry for disappearing again, but college applications do not leave a body with much free time or brain power for any other writing, and insomnia even further diminishes that brain power. The good news is, one of those two issues isn't really an issue anymore, so I'll hopefully have more time to write now- the insomnia is still a thing, though, so it'll be a little touch and go until that gets sorted. **

**Further good news; I wanted to get this out this weekend, but almost didn't. Then I got today off of school. (To see why, look at today's (1/6/14) high temperature and wind chill in the Midwestern United States.) I got tomorrow off, too, so I hope to make more progress on my outline. Still not really close to being done, but it's coming along. **

**So, this chapter is pretty much more setup, more character introduction, more learning about my OC in both straightforward and cryptic ways. The plot doesn't make a whole lot of progress, but this chapter is needed. The Loonatics should appear in the next chapter, though, so a little more waiting on that front! **

**Special thanks to Bookworm Gal, benji96, Angelus Draco, foxchick1, and Candlestic for reviewing! **

***NOTE FOR NEW READERS*: All translations can be found next to their corresponding number at the bottom of the document.**

The outskirts of the city passed by quickly, the dust from buildings long unattended shifting to trash bins, seldom picked up and overflowing into the gutters and alleyways. The few cars that lined the streets were outdated, most missing parts; either stripped as a method of theft prevention, or a sign of previous victimization. These buildings were less dated, livable; most were multi-story apartments, modern in appearance at the time they were built; now, they amounted to little more than graffiti-stained houses of cards.

The Navy District, taking up the southern and western ends of the sprawling city of New Chicago, was known for many things; attracting respectable citizens, positive attention, or tourists did not make the list. In fact, it earned its nickname for the large police presence it had once boasted; one couldn't walk two blocks without bumping into a cop. But, of course, even this measure to clean up the area didn't work, and the city stopped pouring money into it, like all other measures it had tried throughout history. The South and West Sides were irredeemable, apparently.

Of course, all this had taken place long before the young girl walking down the block had gotten there. These were just stories from locals she had heard. She had no idea how historically accurate they were, but based on the current state of things, she'd believe everything she'd heard.

The area she'd chosen to settle in was one of the relatively better ones; things were a little more run down, a little lower income than in other areas, but it was safer. The gangs were virtually nonexistent around there; no point when no one had any money to spare, and no way to make any more.

She had it rougher than most; most around here lived with family, and usually at least one family member had a job. Not only was she entirely on her own, but at 18, with virtually no education, living in a town like the Navy District, finding a place that would hire her would have been difficult; throw in the fact that she was an anthro, and all opportunities went out the proverbial window.

She had one way of getting money; occasionally, she would sneak aboard the public train system and head for the city proper, usually the more high-brow shopping and business areas. She did not consider herself to be a very proud person, but she hated resorting to begging; she hated resorting to taking what she needed, too, but she had no other option, and after years of doing this, her guilt did not last long anymore. So, her abilities as a very successful pickpocket received a lot of use. She only took wallets, and only took the cash, before dropping off everything else in a street side mailbox, where it would eventually make its way back to its owner. However, it had been a while since her last jaunt into the city, and her funds had run out a while ago.

She sighed. Just one more thing to do.

Rounding the corner, she came upon the local grocer. Well, one of them, anyway; she knew of three total in the safer area, but the other two were little Mom and Pop shops; this was one of the few big name stores in the area. That meant nothing in regards to better quality, though; what it did mean was that she felt better about taking some food from this one. Just a couple days' worth, she told herself; only until her next trip downtown.

Walking past the front entrance, she turned the corner into an alley, paying no mind to a cat scurrying away as she counted the windows of the empty building next door. In between the eighth and ninth windows, she stopped, turning to face the wall of the grocer before focusing on herself, letting the tingly sensation spread through her arm before sticking it through the brick wall and into the store, where it would be concealed by a shelf and its contents from anyone inside.

When the meteor hit, not many in the area had been affected by it. Shockwaves could only travel so far, after all, so the effects were minor; those with family in Acmetropolis were worried, and a few people got sick from the ensuing radiation, which was much more widespread. At first, she simply thought she was of the latter group; she hadn't been familiar with the potential effects of radiation at the time, so she assumed that her fur spontaneously changing color was not too abnormal, that the sudden bursts of energy were to be expected. After reading about it at the local library, though, and fining that none of those symptoms had anything to do with radiation, she began to worry a bit.

And then, one day, she fell through the floor of her room, and decided that something wasn't quite right.

Adjusting had been difficult, but her new abilities quickly proved useful. Her newfound flexibility and strength, though not greatly improved, made getting around her building a lot easier; her ability to phase through solid objects made it much easier to steal, to flee. Learning to control it had been an adventure in itself, but seeing what she could do now, the time spent had been worth it.

Her face lit up in triumph when she felt something through the wall, grabbing it and pulling it back through. Upon seeing her bounty, she frowned; mushrooms. She had no way to cook those; they were of no use. The store must have rearranged where everything was again, as they did every few months. Huffing in annoyance, knowing she'd have to search around for proper food, she stuffed the package of mushrooms into her sack to give to a friend with a kitchen later before walking back down the wall, intent on searching more sections of shelving.

**xoxoxoxox**

Munching on an apple, she made her way down an empty street in a quiet area of town, noticeably heavier bag slung over her shoulder as she planned out the next couple of days. First and foremost, she needed to make a trip downtown, get some cash. She'd have to go to the train station in the north side of the district, swipe a schedule, find a less busy train she could sneak aboard. If she was going to the north side, may as well stop by the library, too; she hadn't been there in a while. Right then, though, she had some people to meet.

Hearing the clack of wood on wood and the squeaks of shoes on cement, she turned into a nearby alley and was unsurprised to find her quarry. A little over a dozen boys occupied the alley, mostly teenagers, and mostly Hispanic. Ten of them were playing a five on five game of rudimentary street hockey, with knocked over trash bins as goals, planks of wood as sticks, and an old tennis ball as a puck. One boy with an operational watch acted as referee for an accurately timed game; the rest sat up on a fence, dumpsters, or leaned against a wall and cheered on one team or another. An older boy in the dumpster cheering section looked over as she rounded the corner of the building behind him, smiling and waving her over.

"Hey, Perra!" he called, using a nickname only a select few were allowed to use.

"Hey Rio!" she replied, edging along the wall of the building to avoid disturbing the ongoing game before jumping up onto the dumpster next to him, playfully shoving him over to make room for herself.

Rodrigo- or Rio, as he preferred- had been one of the first people she'd met when she'd first come to New Chicago. He'd lived there all his life, and so was able to show her the ins and outs of the area, and even taught her some Spanish. She had tried to find a way to repay him, but he only wanted one thing, and she couldn't supply it; to get out of the Navy District. They used to talk at length about what life outside might be like if they got out; they both also knew they were being a bit idealistic, but one could dream.

"Who's winning?" she asked as she settled next to him, watching the game closely in an attempt to decipher who was on what team.

"Jordan, Raul, Tony, Paco, and Fernando," he replied, noticing her trying to pick out teams. "I'm in on the next rotation. You wanna play, chica (1)?"

She paused halfway to biting her apple. "Maybe next game; I want to finish my breakfast first. Speaking of which, the grocer rearranged itself again; anyone need food?" She raised her voice a bit at this, addressing everyone present. One of the hockey players briefly turned her way before turning back to the game, otherwise she had little response from them.

"Food?" a younger African-American boy sitting on the ground next to the dumpster parroted, making both she and Rio search for the source of the sound before he stood up. His head just barely cleared the top of the dumpster.

"Oh, hey there, Marcus. I didn't see you down there," she greeted as she pulled out the food items she had no use for; three packs of different mushrooms, a bag of potatoes, a few turnips, and a package of raw chicken, still fairly chilled. "Make sure that meat gets home and in the fridge soon, okay kid?"

"Thank you!" he squeaked happily, waving to the hockey player who had paused before running off with the food, presumably back to his family's apartment. One of the older boys, Jordan, waved back in recognition that he was leaving before continuing.

"Why's Jordan here?" she asked in a hushed tone. "I thought he was the only one of us lazy bums to have a job?"

Rio snorted. They'd all have jobs if there were enough to go around. "He got fired a couple days ago. The puta (2) running the business thought he was stealing."

"Tch." Tossing the core of the apple onto a nearby pile of trash bags, she settled back against the wall, hands folded behind her head. "If I had a dollar for every time I heard that…"

"Perra, if I had a _dime_, I would be living the high life in LA." They snickered half-heartedly at the sad truth before someone called Rio over for his turn at play; she contentedly watched, removing more food- a slice of bread this time- and finishing that before switching out with someone on Rio's team after the second period. Despite being at a serious size disadvantage and having a 'no powers' rule in place, she had no match for her running speed, and by ducking and weaving around the other team's defense, made two easy goals for the win.

The first period of the next game she played in went much the same as the previous one. She didn't have to switch out for the second period, but soon after it began, she wished she had. An uneasy feeling had quickly built, a restless fidget that made her pay more attention to her general surroundings than the game. Nothing seemed to be amiss, but this was far from the first time her paranoia acted up; usually, there was a good reason for it. The boys all noticed her unease, and allowed a mid-period switch out, knowing she was liable to run off at any second. While she did not leave right away, she slung her bag back over her shoulder, fist tight around the strap to ensure she didn't lose it before parking herself on the very corner of the dumpster, planting her feet flat on one side, ready to launch herself off at the slightest sign of trouble. Her attention wasn't even on the game anymore, instead allowing her gaze to dart between both open ends of the alley.

At one point, she turned towards one side of the alley and stopped, intently staring that way for a few moments, not moving a muscle until two men walking down the sidewalk across the street came into view. One was short and stout, the other tall and built, and both wearing suits that made them look almost comically out of place in the neighborhood. She recognized them immediately; a pair she affectionately referred to as Dumb and Dumber, as neither was known for their intelligence. Who was which was up for debate. At their appearance, she rocketed off the dumpster and down the alley in the opposite direction of the men, yelling a hurried "Bye guys!" behind her.

She didn't even know if the two had seen her, but she wasn't taking chances as she darted down the alley. These two were recurring characters in her life story; she'd spent a lot of time running from them, and others associated with them, and would not let them catch her at any cost. A few of her friends had once asked if her running speed was another effect of the meteor; she'd laughed, because they honestly had no idea how much practice and self-imposed training she'd had, how long she'd been running from these dorks, their more troublesome friends, the past…

Exiting the alley and running across the street, she turned around briefly to see if they had followed, slowing to a stop when she saw that they had; they'd barely turned the corner, not missing the only anthro in the group but not moving nearly as quickly as her, either. The guys had paused the game at her sudden departure, parting for the two men as they began to run past, only to converge on them and whack them with their sticks when they were sufficiently surrounded.

She spared a moment to laugh at their expense, seeing as they weren't getting out of that throng for a while and mentally making a note to do something to thank the guys later before beginning to run again, aiming to put as much distance between her and them as possible. Continuing down the alley, she rounded the next corner, running a few blocks up the next street before going a few more alleys over. One more block and she stopped, hiding herself in the shadows between two buildings and pausing to catch her breath, peering back around the corner for a few minutes to ensure that they weren't there. Sighing in relief, she was just about to relax when a small scuff behind her caught her attention. Pulling herself along the wall, she forcibly flung herself out around the corner, pivoting around to find the two suited men behind her.

"Oh, goody, you two again," she spat sarcastically, gleefully taking note of their developing cuts and bruises from the hockey stick fight.

The bigger one merely growled; the little one made a face at their failed attempt at sneaking up on her, but, as per usual, tried to be more civil than his Neanderthal-esque companion. "Look, Girly," he began in his nasal, New York accent, "you really wanna keep playin' dese games wit' us? 'Cause I'm gettin' real tired of it, and I'd really rather you didn't give me a reason ta sick da big guy here on ya."

"Well, the way I see it, I have a winning streak that spans…how many years have we been doing this now?" she asked sweetly, innocently smiling in spite of their clearly irked visages.

"I think ya should watch it, Missy," the short one countered, face darkening, "before this gets messy."

"What are you going to do, Tiny; kick me in the shins? Or are you just going to have your lapdog here chase me around?" Their wicks were definitely getting shorter if that was all it took to get the reaction she wanted; the short one rushed her, wildly swinging a fist. She twisted around the punch, grabbing onto his jacket and taking him with her from behind, tripping him up as the big one moved to tackle her NFL-style. Righting her stance, she grabbed onto one of his shoulders just before he hit her, vaulting over him and sticking the landing behind them, darting off as the two wound up tackling each other.

She took another round-about way, slowing after a much longer while, but they caught up again not long later. Switching tactics, she started heading north, towards the train stations; they had a knack for catching up to her despite her speed, but they never seemed to be able to follow her in public spaces. More and more people started appearing on the streets; eventually, the trio found themselves weaving through large crowds, her skinny build achieving this much better than the larger men. Getting lost amongst the people was only a temporary fix, though; as an anthro, she stood out. Rounding a corner, she phased into the wall of a building, finding herself inside a small but busy convenience store. Out the front window, she could see her two pursuers run down the street, rudely shoving anyone in front of them out of their way in a bid to catch their long-gone quarry. She did not see the individual at the counter staring at her, wide-eyed and in shock.

Snickering to herself, she left the same, quiet way she'd come, exiting through the wall and back onto the sidewalk and walking back down the street, expression sobering. This wasn't the first time she'd seen those two in the area, and seeing them meant bad things. She'd have to leave soon, lest worse individuals be sent after her. It also meant she'd have to be extra careful around the main traffic areas, seeing as that's where they'd be hanging around until they could figure out her location more precisely.

Despite the fact that her adversaries were almost undoubtedly still lurking around somewhere nearby, she decided to make a quick stop at the train station before heading home; she was close by, and needed to get a schedule, anyway. Taking her trip downtown sooner than later had just become more important; she'd need to get a lot more cash than usual as well, she noted as she climbed the stairs to the platform, pulling one of the schedules from the plastic dispenser on a post and unfolding it. With these two around, she'd have to plan to lay low for a while; she'd have to stockpile food, too, make sure she didn't have to go out in public for a long while. Maybe they'd think she left, move on. It had worked before…

"Excuse me! Miss!" someone shouted behind her, prompting her to look up from the schedule and back towards the stairs. She sincerely doubted that he was looking for her, but she did want to keep tabs on her surroundings. Finding no one else nearby on the platform, though, and seeing as the portly, near breathless man who had presumably called out was walking towards her, she stood at attention, tucking the schedule into her bag; usually, being sought out ended badly for her.

The man stopped a few feet away from her, and she barely kept her discomfort hidden; he'd positioned himself between her and the stairs. Not that that was her only escape route, but it did make her wonder if he had done it deliberately. Questionable actions aside, his appearance alone would have made her question his integrity; it looked as though he'd tried really, _really_ hard to fit in with the area, but he still fell short of the mark. His clothes, while not ostentatious and definitely worn, still looked too new, too high-end for what was normally seen around the Navy District; his hair, instead of either unruly and long or buzzed and manageable, was neatly done; his size, the most telling, because quite a few had so little food to eat, they appeared unhealthy, let alone having enough to become chubby.

That being said, this man wasn't of the usual type sent after her. If she wanted to get away, she could; quite easily at that. She could phase through the platform, jump the tracks and go down the other side, vault over the railing and stick the landing on the sidewalk below. For that reason, and only that reason, she gave him the benefit of the doubt.

"Yes?" she responded simply, if somewhat coldly. The other seemed not to notice, or simply not care; a look of hopeful near-relief spread along his face as he drew closer; odds were, this was who he'd been looking for. Her earlier action aside, the unnatural fur color was a dead giveaway.

"Would you by any chance…happen to be Sive?" he asked, still slightly huffing for breath.

Her eyebrows creased as she took half a step back, imperceptibly shifting her stance so her weight rested on the balls of her feet, ready to spring at a moment's notice. She had always prided herself on keeping a low profile despite being one of the few anthros in the area; he knowing who she was spelled trouble. "Who wants to know?"

He either did not care about or did not notice her demeanor, her actions lost on him as he matched her step back for one more step forward. He smiled in what may have been meant to be a disarming way. "Oh, thank goodness! I've just about turned this city upside down looking for you! Of course, it made it harder, only working off of rumors of your existence; not many around here knew of you, of course, and I got a lot of odd looks after asking for an anthro who could walk through walls… Oh, but after seeing you _do _it, though, there's no doubt about it! You _are_ the one I've been looking for!"

Taking one more step away from him, she became on edge for an entirely different reason. He talking about previous knowledge of her powers made her think that he had no relation to the group employing Dumb and Dumber; she took great pains to ensure that they did not learn of her powers. The fact that he'd been searching her out was enough to warrant some caution on her part, but his reason made him easily dealt with. Putting on her best you-are-crazy-and-I-think-I'd-prefer-to-stay-away-from-you-in-case-you-snap look, one she'd perfected after slipping up with the visibility of her powers a few times, she made the motions of slowly backing away from him obvious, slightly raising her hands, palms open, in a placating gesture. "You think I…walked through a wall? Um… Did you hit your head or something, hombre (3)? I…don't know how to react to that…"

His face fell for a moment, before hardening, shaking his head to dispel any doubt and taking another step towards her. "No, no, I know what I saw, and I understand; being approached about your powers must be odd, and I understand if you've been trying to hide them to seem less out of place. However, as someone who has seen others with abilities like yours in action, I can say that you look the part too much to cause any doubt; lime is not a natural fur color." Here he took a few more steps and held out his hand, quickly enough that he closed the distance between them once again before she could back away. "Maybe I got off on the wrong foot. My name is James Crowley, and my employer sent me here in hopes of laying the groundwork to have you two meet to discuss-"

The mention of an "employer" was enough to set Sive off. Fast as lightning, she struck out, landing a right hook square on his nose, prompting an undignified yelp from him as his hands came up to instinctually cover his face. This gave her the opportunity to leap forward, phasing through him like any inanimate object and dart forward, down the stairs and back up the block. By the time Crowley had removed his hands from his bloodied nose, she was long gone.

**xoxoxoxox**

A new tactic would definitely be needed to approach Sive again, Zadavia concluded to herself as Crowley, her battered Midwestern US contact, continued to complain about his broken nose over the video conference. Based on her interpretation of his obviously biased account of the incident, Sive was the skittish type, and she knew he had a tendency to have issues with respecting personal space. Even so, she wondered about what may have set the anthro off enough to punch him; did she naturally resort to violence? Or only when made uncomfortable? Or did something else trigger her?

Another hole in the story came at the beginning, in the convenience store. Why had Sive phased into the building if she had been trying to keep a low profile about her powers? And why phase in only to leave less than thirty seconds later? Crowley had mentioned how it had looked as though she'd been running. From what?

She had a feeling that something more was going on with Sive; all the more reason to talk to her, she reasoned. The potential damage she could cause with her powers warranted a conversation, anyway. The only issue now was finding a way to do it that wouldn't scare her away…

However, she concluded, attention shifting back to the continuing tirade on the other line, she'd have to appease Crowley before she could plan anything at length.

**A/N: The next chapter will hopefully be out much sooner than this one was; I'm about to be a second semester senior, after all. XP **

**Please R&R!**

(1) girl

(2) A not very nice word.

(3) man


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